Local Energy Rules

"We can avoid that $100 million investment in transmission lines, distribution lines, in capital infrastructure..." How can a utility like Long Island Power Authority avoid all that new capital expenditure?  Find out in this interview with Vice President of Environmental Affairs Michael Deering, recorded via Skype on November 25, 2013. Customer-Powered Utility The first question we asked Michael was why one of the largest municipal utilities in the country was looking to its customers for power generation.  The answer was simple: 1) for the environmental value of solar energy but more importantly, 2) for the economy.  To generate jobs and economic development on Long Island. Solar Programs Helping Meet Peak Demand The Long Island Power Authority isn't new to customer-owned solar.  They launched their first solar rebate program in 2001, and now have solar on over 7300 homes and businesses on Long Island.  They've added another ~50 megawatts (MW) with a few utility-scale projects, and then launched the feed-in tariff program in 2012.  In total, the utility will have 170 MW of solar installed by the end of 2014, sufficient to meet about 3% of its peak demand. Limited Line Capacity Means High Value for Local Solar LIPA isn't a typical municipal utility.  It's literally at the "end of the line," and that limited import capacity puts a premium on locally generated energy.  The new iteration of the feed-in tariff program, launched in 2013, asks for 40 of the 100 MW to be developed on the south fork of Long Island (Montauk).  If they can attract the investment, the utility will pay an additional 7¢ per kilowatt-hour for energy from those solar projects because the energy will help defer big investments in transmission and power plants to serve growing peak demand. What's Next? LIPA has plans to procure more large-scale renewable energy through a 280 MW request for proposal (RFP) in 2014 as well as a third wave feed-in tariff program, focused on non-solar renewable energy technologies, with a total capacity of 20 MW. You can learn more about feed-in tariff programs from our 2012 report or about the way utilities are valuing solar power from our series on Minnesota's value of solar law.   This is the 13th edition of Local Energy Rules, an ILSR podcast with Senior Researcher John Farrell that shares powerful stories of successful local renewable energy and exposes the policy and practical barriers to its expansion. Other than his immediate family, the audience is primarily researchers, grassroots organizers, and grasstops policy wonks who want vivid examples of how local renewable energy can power local economies. It is published twice monthly, on 1st and 3rd Thursday.  Click to subscribe to the podcast: iTunes or RSS/XML Sign up for new podcast notifications and weekly email updates from the energy program!

A project of the Energy Democracy initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Local Energy Rules is a twice monthly podcast with Senior Researcher John Farrell, sharing powerful stories of successful local renewable energy and exposing the policy and practical barriers to their expansion. Our audience is researchers, grassroots organizers, and grasstops policy wonks who want vivid examples of how local renewable energy can power local economies. Most shows are 15-20 minutes in length, released twice a month.

It may be one of the oldest cooperative utilities in the country, but in the next six months, Farmers Electric Cooperative (FEC) of southeastern Iowa will be leading the nation in this 21st century energy source. Upon completion of a new solar array, the 640-member cooperative will have over 1,500 Watts of solar per customer on their system, nearly double the #2 utility. It's also the most reliable utility in Iowa. How can a small, member-owned utility be "America's Most Progressive Utility"? Find out in this interview with FEC Manager Warren McKenna, recorded via Skype, on November 18, 2013.

It may be one of the oldest cooperative utilities in the country, but in the next six months, Farmers Electric Cooperative (FEC) of southeastern Iowa will be leading the nation in this 21st century energy source. Upon completion of a new solar array, the 640-member cooperative will have over 1,500 Watts of solar per customer on their system, nearly double the #2 utility. It's also the most reliable utility in Iowa. How can a small, member-owned utility be "America's Most Progressive Utility"? Find out in this interview with FEC Manager Warren McKenna, recorded via Skype, on November 18, 2013. Flexibility Unlike many small cooperative or municipal utilities, Farmers Electric Cooperative only buys 30% of its energy on long-term contracts. Instead, McKenna explains, they buy power on the spot market, using local power generation and demand management to avoid price spikes. This leaves them open to buying power from local generators, especially solar. Creativity FEC hasn't limited itself to just one strategy for adding solar to the grid. In fact, they don't even have net metering, the most common policy for connecting small-scale solar projects. Instead, they have a feed-in tariff at pays 20¢ per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for solar energy, as long as it's 25% or less of a customer's own use. For solar energy produced that is between 25 and 100% of a customer's monthly usage, customers still get 12.5¢ per kWh (the retail electricity rate for residential customers). Surplus generation is purchased by the utility at 6¢ per kWh.  Participating customers still buy all their electricity from the utility FEC also has a 25 kW community solar project, selling shares to new customers in phase 2 for just $1.63 per Watt. Current participants can buy additional panels for $2 per Watt. Finally, the cooperative has also commissioned a new 750 kW solar array which will sell power to the utility for its first 10 years, and the revert to cooperative ownership thereafter. Participation Since it's a cooperative, technically every FEC member is an owner in a local solar project. But ignoring that for the moment, about 20% of the cooperative's members either have their own solar array, own shares in the community solar project, or participate in the Green Power Project (a $3 per month green pricing program for purchasing local renewable energy). Replicable? The big question is, could your local utility do what Farmers Electric is doing?  If your utility happens to be locally owned, says McKenna. Cooperatives are often very open to comments from their members, and if not, you can run for the board.  Municipal utilities are overseen by elected officials, who are always looking for examples of strategies to increase local jobs, particularly from clean energy. It's inspiring to see what FEC has accomplished, regardless.  Most of the greenest utilities in the U.S. are among the largest, and Farmers Electric shows that you don't have to be a big utility to do big things with locally owned renewable energy.   This is the 12th edition of Local Energy Rules, an ILSR podcast with Senior Researcher John Farrell that shares powerful stories of successful local renewable energy and exposes the policy and practical barriers to its expansion. Other than his immediate family, the audience is primarily researchers, grassroots organizers, and grasstops policy wonks who want vivid examples of how local renewable energy can power local economies. It is published twice monthly, on 1st and 3rd Thursday.  Click to subscribe to the podcast: iTunes or RSS/XML Sign up for new podcast notifications and weekly email updates from the energy program!

A project of the Energy Democracy initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Local Energy Rules is a twice monthly podcast with Senior Researcher John Farrell, sharing powerful stories of successful local renewable energy and exposing the policy and practical barriers to their expansion. Our audience is researchers, grassroots organizers, and grasstops policy wonks who want vivid examples of how local renewable energy can power local economies. Most shows are 15-20 minutes in length, released twice a month.

"We have this once-in-a-generation negotiation coming up next year and it's a chance for Minneapolis to explore what its energy choices might be and how it could achieve its energy goals." Earlier this week, the Minneapolis city council got an early look at an important "pathways study," outlining the legal and policy strategies the city could follow toward a cleaner, more affordable, reliable, and local energy future. It's one of the outcomes from a robust grassroots campaign to move the city toward a better energy future this summer, and it touched a nerve with the city's incumbent, monopoly electric utility. In July, Xcel Energy dispatched a glossy letter to all its Minneapolis customers, warning them of the dire consequences should the city consider the boldest option – forming a city-owned utility. ILSR Senior Researcher John Farrell explains the letter and its import in this podcast, interviewed by his colleague, Lisa Gonzalez.

"We have this once-in-a-generation negotiation coming up next year and it's a chance for Minneapolis to explore what its energy choices might be and how it could achieve its energy goals." Earlier this week, the Minneapolis city council got an early l...

"A lot of the utilities don't totally understand this new paradigm that's coming." David Blittersdorf of AllEarth Renewables has been working to advance renewable energy in Vermont for years, and was instrumental in getting the state's standard offer program (a feed-in tariff) passed in 2009. He's adamant that the state should accelerate its standard offer in order to meet its ambitious 2050 goal of getting 90% of its energy from renewable sources. But some of the state's utilities have balked and others don't seem to grasp the pace that's needed to reach the state's targets.

A project of the Energy Democracy initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Local Energy Rules is a twice monthly podcast with Senior Researcher John Farrell, sharing powerful stories of successful local renewable energy and exposing the policy and practical barriers to their expansion. Our audience is researchers, grassroots organizers, and grasstops policy wonks who want vivid examples of how local renewable energy can power local economies. Most shows are 15-20 minutes in length, released twice a month.

"A lot of the utilities don't totally understand this new paradigm that's coming." David Blittersdorf of AllEarth Renewables has been working to advance renewable energy in Vermont for years, and was instrumental in getting the state's standard offe...

Joy Hughes was living in the San Luis Valley of Colorado, a place with a “tremendous amount of solar potential,” so good that the valley’s residents were being overwhelmed by proposals for large scale solar power plants. One had a “field of things like radar dishes” and another included a “600 foot tower.” The influx of outside companies seeking solar profit led Joy to ask, “Why not just set up solar arrays that can provide power for people in the local community and offset their electric bills?” The Solar Gardens Institute was born, with a vision of helping community members pool their resources, produce their own energy, and keep their energy dollars local. A Contest of Who Could Type As Fast As Possible One of the Institute’s first initiatives was Colorado’s nascent solar gardens legislation, a national prototype for community shared renewable energy. The bill passed in 2010, and after two years in rulemaking the 9 megawatt (MW) program sold out in 30 minutes. While it was a good framework for encouraging community solar, “it became a contest of who could type as fast as possible,” said Hughes, who felt that the application process (and other aspects) weighted against some of the more authentically community-based projects. The Colorado law had many good things, including requirements for participation by low-income participants, geographic proximity of subscribers to the solar project, and slightly higher incentives for smaller community solar projects. The last is what make these small projects possible, Joy said, and gets them closer to where people are using the electricity. The proximity also makes technical sense for small communities, because “a substation can take in about as much as it can put out.” A Community Solar Gold Standard Joy also identified several potential improvements to the Colorado law. For one, she’d like to see community solar projects have a choice over their renewable energy credits (RECs). Some nonprofit projects would rather retire them instead of being required to give them to the utility. She’d also like to see improved selection criteria for projects (with a preference for those that are close to load, have local ownership, use local labor, or are financed with crowdfunding). Joy is excited about the new community solar guidelines coming from the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), an open process that will help decide on a “gold standard” for community solar. There are also community solar laws being proposed in several other states, including California, Washington, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Maryland, DC, Hawaii (Minnesota’s almost-passed solar energy standard also features a provision for community solar). Removing Barriers and Moving Ahead Joy also discussed how to remove some of the barriers to community renewable energy at the federal level. One, remove the tax equity bottleneck by passing the SUN Act to allow individuals to get tax credit with a community solar project. Offer exemptions in securities laws to let people get credits on their bill or other methods of repayment, helping avoid financial disclosures that run to 90 pages and that “nobody can really do without a lot of attorneys.” She also wants to see more open source legal documents and other strategies that create “a level playing field for small players.” For more on community solar, you can read our 2010 report on community solar or check out the Solar Gardens Institute, where your project can get on their community solar map or you can find assistance in financing a project and finding subscribers. This is the 9th edition of Local Energy Rules, a new ILSR podcast that is published twice monthly, on 1st and 3rd Thursday. In this podcast series, ILSR Senior Researcher John Farrell talks with people putting together great community renewable energy projects and examining how energy policies help or hurt the development of clean, local power.

Joy Hughes was living in the San Luis Valley of Colorado, a place with a “tremendous amount of solar potential,” so good that the valley’s residents were being overwhelmed by proposals for large scale solar power plants. One had a “field of things like radar dishes” and another included a “600 foot tower.” The influx of outside companies seeking solar profit led Joy to ask, “Why not just set up solar arrays that can provide power for people in the local community and offset their electric bills?” The Solar Gardens Institute was born, with a vision of helping community members pool their resources, produce their own energy, and keep their energy dollars local.

A project of the Energy Democracy initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Local Energy Rules is a twice monthly podcast with Senior Researcher John Farrell, sharing powerful stories of successful local renewable energy and exposing the policy and practical barriers to their expansion. Our audience is researchers, grassroots organizers, and grasstops policy wonks who want vivid examples of how local renewable energy can power local economies. Most shows are 15-20 minutes in length, released twice a month.

"It's the only time I've done a rate increase when nobody was opposed," says Ed Regan of the Gainesville utility's feed-in tariff for solar power. The program, launched in 2009, has resulted in nearly 15 megawatts of new, local solar energy generation on or near buildings in the northeast Florida town, enough to make it one of the leading communities in per capita solar worldwide. The program is open to participation by anyone in Gainesville, with the utility buying all solar energy in the program on a fixed price, 20-year contract. It all started about ten years ago, when Pegeen Hanrahan was elected mayor of Gainesville and Ed Regan was serving as the assistant general manager for strategic planning. Intern Wade Underwood and I spoke with them earlier this year.

A project of the Energy Democracy initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Local Energy Rules is a twice monthly podcast with Senior Researcher John Farrell, sharing powerful stories of successful local renewable energy and exposing the policy and practical barriers to their expansion. Our audience is researchers, grassroots organizers, and grasstops policy wonks who want vivid examples of how local renewable energy can power local economies. Most shows are 15-20 minutes in length, released twice a month.